.The NECA Cowbunga Collection is a content creator’s dream. Here we are deep into October still talking about figures that dropped in August. This time it’s another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures action figure and it’s fan-favorite Mondo Gecko. Most TMNT fans probably know Mondo from the Playmates action figure line. He also made the jump to the cartoon series and he’s shown up quite a bit in other TMNT media ever since. Like a lot of those old toys though, Mondo is a Mirage Studios creation. Ryan Brown is the credited creator and Mondo would go on to appear in the Archie Comics Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures books where he would be an ally of the turtles. He would then go on to become a member of the Mighty Mutanimals alongside the likes of Man Ray, Dreadmon, and others.
When it comes to NECA’s subline of figures based on TMNT Adventures, it would seem they have two priorities: Stump wrestling and Mighty Mutanimals. The first few figures started building out the Mutanimals before pivoting to the wrestling stuff. Mondo is a reminder that more Mutanimals are needed and likely coming. First unveiled at San Diego Comic Con 2023, Mondo arrives in the standard TMNT Adventures packaging with new artwork by artist Ken Mitchroney. He’s a sculpt by Tomasz Rozejowski and Kushwara Studios with paint by Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo. Because Mondo’s appearance in the comics is so close to his vintage toy, which also inspired his cartoon design, this figure is perhaps the least exciting one in the line so far. That’s just because he’s so familiar, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a worthwhile release.
Mondo stands at around 5.5″ to the top of his head and tack on another quarter of an inch for the hat. His design is almost exactly like the old Playmates toy with one obvious exception. He has the torn yellow shirt with skull emblem on the chest, the asymmetrical gloves and knee pads, high top shoes, and purple shorts and hat. The main difference is the long, black, hair. The old toy had it tied back in a ponytail while this Mondo just lets his hair down. His eyes are partially closed and his mouth is in an open position with a big smile which helps to expose those braces. It gives him a bit of a stoner look and there’s a toon quality to the face that’s appropriate for the line. I know some who aren’t crazy about the expression, but it works for me.
Paint on Mondo is a little sparse compared with some releases, but I’d stop short at calling it lacking. The body is a rather bright, almost neon, green textured like a basketball to impart scaling. There’s some black curves painted on to highlight the scales as well and a lot of linework on the figure’s face. The teeth, eyes, and tongue are painted cleanly as are the gloves and shoes. The shirt is an overlay and the print on that is clean. The bare plastic in use for the green is not glossy or cheap, but the figure doesn’t pop as much as say Man Ray. The only area I don’t love are the hands. He has sculpted claws, but everything is green. His nails weren’t painted in the books from what I’ve seen, but this could be an odd spot where the sculpt should have been a little softer to make for pointed fingers as opposed to fingers with claws. In another deviation from the Playmates/toon design, there’s no blue on the character’s belly or the underside of the tail. The bright green also doesn’t match the box art nor does it match the comic. He should be a more olive green, very close to the turtles, and I’m guessing this was a creative choice by NECA to brighten the figure up. Perhaps to differentiate him from Slash too.
Mondo comes with an assortment of accessories, most of which are expected. For hands, he has a set of gripping hands and open ones. He comes with a right hand in a devil horns gesture and a left in a hang 10 one. There’s also another right gripping hand that’s wider which is for holding his soft drink. It’s an all white cup with a straw that has a red diamond on it. There’s some black linework on it as well and it’s sharp looking. There’s also a microphone which is done all in black and is taken right from the books as he was a human musician who got mutated into this gecko man. There’s also an included gecko who is pretty cute and has his little tongue sticking out. He’s mostly green with some linework and yellow eyes. I wish they had painted the inner mouth black rather than leaving it green as it looks a little funky with the red tongue poking out, but it’s fine.
The two big accessories are Mondo’s instrument of choice and mode of transportation. Mondo has his trusty six string which is mostly teal with white accents. The paint on the fretboard is really clean and there’s volume and tone knobs sculpted in as well. I do have to point out that there are only five strings sculpted onto it even though there are six knobs at the end clearly indicating that this should be a typical guitar. It’s also lacking a strap so Mondo is forced to hold it if you want to display him with it which seems like an odd oversight. Mondo also has his skateboard which is all purple with a sting ray on the underside. It’s not as flashy as the cartoon board and it’s also not equipped with a motor. The wheels do turn and it has a single peg on the rear. My board did come with the front truck not glued on. There’s a sculpted tab on the underside for it that it slides onto and I’ll have to glue it myself if I want it to stay in place. Otherwise, it’s a skateboard and it does what it’s supposed to, we’ve just received a lot of boards from NECA at this point so it’s a little hard to be impressed by it.
Articulation for Mondo is pretty much the norm for the line. We have a ball joint at the head, but the presence of the hair and open jaw is going to severely limit what he can do there. It’s primarily a swivel point and even that is limited. Shoudlers are ball-hinged and he has a biceps swivel past that. The bicep on the left arm of my figure doesn’t want to seat properly on the peg for the joint. I’ll have to try heating it to see if that works as right now the joint is basically working itself out when I mess with it. Elbows are double-jointed and this figure does feature pins. They don’t create much of an eyesore, but your mileage may vary. Hands rotate and hinge horizontally on all hands. No vertical hinges anywhere. The gloves are painted on, so repeated use of these hinges may expose the green plastic underneath so do be mindful.
In the torso is a ball joint in the diaphragm which rotates and tilts in all directions. Nothing crazy, but it’s there. There doesn’t appear to be anything at the waist while the hips are ball sockets that go out to the side for splits, but will be limited by the crotch overlay kicking forward and back as the legs will want to go off to the side. Forcing the issue will likely just result in the leg popping off. There is a thigh pivot built into that joint which works fine and the double-jointed knees bend a little past 90 degrees. The ankles feature the customary hinge and rocker setup and NECA wisely put the hinge right in the middle of the sneaker so it’s not really hindered by anything. It also appears to be smartly engineered so that paint rub or flaking won’t present an issue. Mondo is also rocking a tail and that’s connected via a ball hinge. There are no segments in the tail or a wire or anything so it’s pretty basic, but can be posed a bit. It’s also fairly short so it’s not the most useful third leg, but it can be utilized for added stability in certain poses.
Mondo Gecko is a solid release. The figure doesn’t possess much of a wow factor and part of that is due to it just being so similar to the toon figure and the vintage one, which has in recent years received an update via Super7. The articulation is okay and most of the accessories are solid. He’s not really the right shade of green, but I don’t think that’s really impacting my enjoyment of the figure at all. I do think he should have at least another head for those who aren’t crazy about the expression. I’m also surprised that the jaw isn’t hinged. This is definitely a figure for those who want to assemble the Mighty Mutanimals on their shelf. If you’re a more casual TMNT toy collector then you may feel like you’re covered when it comes to Mondo with one of the other releases.
If this figure is to your liking and you want to add it to your TMNT Adventures collection then head to Target. There Mondo will run you $37. The figure is likely to see release at other retailers in the not too distant future as well. Adding Mondo means we’re just missing a proper Mutanimals Leatherhead as well as Wingnut. Once they’re out, the team is basically complete (some will claim they need Ninjara as well, but I don’t think of her as part of the core team) and I would imagine that NECA is already planning on a release for both. They may string us along a bit first, but I have faith that the full team will at long last be immortalized in plastic.
If TMNT Adventures is your thing then check out some of these reviews:
NECA TMNT Adventures Man Ray
Back when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ruled the world, there was a lot of brand synergy between all of the various media being generated by this one mega popular piece of intellectual property. The comics came first followed by a toyline which necessitated the creation of an animated mini series to basically serve as a…
Keep reading
NECA TMNT Adventures Jagwar
The next figure in NECA’s line based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic series is a much anticipated one for fans of those books and its spin-off The Mighty Mutanimals. And that’s because this character is making his debut in plastic. Previously, we looked at Slash who has been pretty well-represented in some…
Keep reading
NECA TMNT Adventures Dreadmon
We’re almost done with all of these NECA Haulathon drops from March and up today is the last of the single-packed figures, the Mighty Mutanimal Dreadmon! Technically, he’s the third figure in NECA’s line of figures from the pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures since he’s listed as number 3 on the box. However,…
Keep reading
The Nostalgia Spot 
Leave a comment